Why do we love the rumor?

The following is probably going to read like a rant, and for that I suppose I must apologize in advance.  It’s a symptom of my annoyance at people and our apparent human condition.

The question I have to ask this morning is why do we fans continually feel the need to either create or perpetuate drama – whether it’s fact or fantasy, rumor or reality?  Are our everyday, regular little lives so incredibly boring that in order to have something “exciting” to discuss, we’ve got to participate in the rumor mill?

Amanda and I have been studying fans and the collective fan culture for our book.  This need to be *the* fan  or  the “number one” fan is like winning the big prize in the contest.  (and although I’m using those terms, I am in no way directing this towards someone who may have been called a “Number one” fan by any band member in particular – let me be clear about that so that no feelings, especially those of my friends, are hurt here.  It’s a generic saying in this case.)  We call it “status”, and while not all fans want to admit to caring about their status in the community, and still others just really don’t care – its still pretty common.  There’s a competitive nature in any fan community – we want to be able to say we went to the most shows, have the most pictures, etc….and yet, there’s this other side of ourselves that wants all of that just to feel validated as a fan.  A lot of fans will read and say “I don’t care about any of that” – and I really believe that’s true to some extent.  I would venture to guess that many of us want to have lots of pictures, go to lots of shows, be able to meet them often and so forth, but maybe we’re not the sharing type.  Maybe we’re content with doing all of those things, yet keeping it private.  I really don’t know the answer, only how I personally handle that sort of thing.  My answer?  I don’t brag – but I don’t have anything to brag about, either!  Perhaps I’d feel differently if I did!   Ultimately, I kind of suspect that perhaps spreading rumor and exaggerating issues we may have heard whispers about in the right circles is one way of being able to say “I know more than you.”

I’m not really a drama person.  If I want a good drama – I’ll watch a movie or read a book.  I truly dislike being in the thick of it.  It makes me feel icky, and invariably I’ll feel as though just by being a bystander I’ve somehow hurt someone.  Even commenting about it as I am today makes me feel a little uncomfortable.  It’s difficult not to occasionally make comment when the blog is centered around what it’s like to truly be a fan, since fan and drama apparently go hand in hand.  I’ve left message boards when the snippity fighting between various members has gotten too hard to ignore, and I’ve left when I’ve been dragged into things simply because I used the wrong word to describe a situation and was tackled for it as though I were in an American football game.  Don’t we have anything better to do???  Anything better to talk about???  I’ve had friends tell me that ALL women love the drama, and that’s why we can find it everywhere.  For a long time, I wasn’t sure – I really though it was just Duran Duran that created that competitive feeling, but I’ve since decided that yes – anything where women are involved tends to go that route.  Maybe a lot of women really do love the drama.  That would explain why I’ve never had many female friends.  I have a few, but I’m choosy in general and I don’t get or stay close to people that tend to drag me down.  I don’t even do the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) at school because it’s well known to be a gossip ring and there’s a big competition between the ladies to see who can be the most popular mom at school.  That’s definitely not me, and I suppose to a certain extent I’m always going to be one of the least “popular” fans, or moms, as a result.  I think I’ll survive.

There have been times where even here at Daily Duranie we’ve talked about the possibilities.  I recall a blog where Amanda discussed the eventual “what ifs” about Simon’s voice.  She wasn’t even spreading rumor – yet she was lambasted for wondering in print what would happen.  We always have a rueful sort of chuckle when we get hate mail about something that we’ve put forth in print – all we’re trying to do is get the fan base thinking a bit, and yet many people will take whatever is said on a message board and spread it EVERYWHERE as though it’s law.  I suppose our status level within the community isn’t quite to the point of respect of the rumor mill…and perhaps that’s for the best.

None of this really explains why we do it though.  Why do we love the rumor?  Your guess is as good as mine!

-R